When the harvest gets small, we find other things to fill our gardening appetites. Like canning applesauce!
Here are 15 quarts of applesauce I made from 52 pounds of Stayman apples! A lot of work, but it's sure worth it. Pure applesauce with nothing else added, not even sugar. It tastes wonderful!
Slim pickin's on the okra this week. We only got four pieces that weighed a total of two and a half ounces. I don't think any more will develop this year as the weather has turned too chilly in the evenings. I notice the stalks are starting to turn a rusty brown color. They must be getting ready to go dormant.
My wife and I picked 4 ounces of raspberries by flashlight as we ran out of daylight while taking care of garden chores this late into the year.
A couple teaspoons of sugar helped turn those raspberries into a great topping for some vanilla ice cream!
Early in the week, these two Park's Whopper tomatoes weighed in at eleven ounces. That's small, but I'll take them and be very happy about it!
From the previous picture, this was the one on the right transformed into how we like them best. Look at how meaty they are!
We finished up the week picking these additional six tomatoes that weighed a total of one and three-quarter pounds. These are some of the ones that were hiding under the vines shown in a previous post. There aren't many of those left now.
Notice that I don't have any marconi peppers in my harvest this week? They're still a little small for picking.
Here's a video showing what they look like this week. I'm surprised at how many there are on the bushes. Next week's harvest should be a nice one!
The buttercrunch lettuce is growing slowly but nicely. It all looks very healthy.
This is the East Plot with collards and broccoli as the main fall/winter crops.
This is the West Plot with additional rows of collards and there are two rows of broccoli on the other side of the marconi green pepper bushes.
That's all for this week. I hope everyone has good luck with the weather and growing their cool weather crops. If it's too cool in your area for growing them, I wish you good luck with your planning for next year's garden. I know you're thinking about it. We just can't help doing it!
Thanks to each one of you for stopping by and visiting my blog. When you do, I feel like you're visiting with me in my garden.
Have a warm gardening day!
Veggie PAK
Veggie Pak, you crease me up - one day you're a "Quantity" man, and the next you're a "Quality" man! I suppose you are one who gets the most out of everything, no matter how big or how small.
ReplyDeleteLike you I picked a tiny handful of Raspberries this week - probably my last of the year.
My goodness....you are always busy! I can't believe that you are still getting tomatoes! You are one lucky guy! Your garden looks great as always!
ReplyDeleteShoot - I get to plant a cool weather garden and I still can't help but start planning my spring garden starting sometime in December!
ReplyDeleteYour tomatoes look wonderful I don't know if I'll get any more slicers this year. *pout*
i can't remember if I asked this already :-) If i did, it's lost in some comment thread.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you do with okra when you harvest just a few?
Lucky you to be still getting fresh tomatoes! That slicer looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteMark Willis, I like going the quality route better than how I used to be for the quantity. Quantity is good, but I prefer increasing the amount of food we normally use in our house so I am able to can some for later use. It's so much better planning for crops that you use regularly so you can get the most out of your garden. With raspberries I normally get one and a half to four ounces per picking, but over multiple pickings this year I have gotten a total of four pounds of fresh raspberries. I figure if I'm going to track any of it, I'm going to track all of it. The spreadsheet is already set up, so I might as well plug the data in.
ReplyDeleteRobin, I do seem to stay busy, but I love being able to have a garden year-round! I also like the advantage of spring getting here and I already have my crops established in the ground, ready to jump up at the first sign of warmer weather. That cuts weeks off the "waiting for big enough to harvest" time.
Barbie, Success just takes a lot of planning, doesn't it? We want the veggies to grow and we try to think of everything that will make that possible so we can feed our families good food. We're all always thinking how we can improve on doing that.
Karen Anne, I just wash them and stick them in a bag in the freezer until I use them.
kitsapFG, Lucky is right! And it was delicious!
Thanks to each of you for stopping by and sharing your comments with me.
Have a great gardening day!
Veggie PAK
Everything looks great! Love the lettuce, when I grow lettuce it just never seems to do that nicely. I think I plant them too close and eat them before they actually get nice. Good luck with everything.
ReplyDeleteYum, yum, home canned applesauce. Can't beat it. I only get enough apples from my Granny Smith tree for a few pies, maybe a batch of apple butter if I'm lucky. Thanks for showing your collards. I like seeing the space that others have to work with. I have three raised beds, 18 sq ft each at home, plus a community garden plot.
ReplyDeletebecky3086, Thanks! The lettuce is supposed to head, but I don't think it will see that happen. I'll be harvesting it before they can develop heads!
ReplyDeleteLou Murray's Green World, You're Welcome! I show my collards because I have them spaced to provide mini-tiller access between them for weed control purposes. I go through them like a checkerboard. Weeding done! It sounds like you have a nice setup for your veggies to produce. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for stopping by and visiting. I enjoy hearing from you!
Have a great gardening day!
Veggie PAK
Wow, everything looks great. It's awesome that you can grow outside in the winter. All my gardening in the winter time has to be protected with hoop houses and cold frames. I'm jealous of your weather
ReplyDeleteStoney Acres, Right now my garden looks good, but if the winter will be like last year, it will surprise us with many snowfalls that we're just not used to seeing in recent memory. The snow stayed so long that it flattened many of my plants last year. I plan to ensure winter production this year for a few of my plants with row covers of some sort. I haven't used them before, so I have to study up on their installation.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your garden during the winter!
Veggie PAK